Lighting
 

Bill,
You would "think" that would be logical. But at two of the local theatres they pride themselves on using "theatrical lighting". Which to them means only barely being able to make out faces. It is brutal. I will give the 1/30 a try and at worst switch to AGC. I just know that that footage will look so bad. Please don't get me wrong, I understand that cameras can not see what is not there. I just wish that I had a little more control of the gain and the ability to switch presets on the fly without having to disable the CP function. Like everyone says, there is no perfect camera and I will have to practice a lot more to get comfortable with how to work with different situations on the A-1.

Jonathan Schwartz

Update
 

There have been many posts here regarding event filming and settings. I just filmed our largest dance company (450 students) at the Gulf Coast Colesium in what I would call diverse stage lighting. Here were my settings

CP - Reality (really helps bring out highlights in low light levels and colors really pop!)
Gain - +3, +6, +12 (just in case but never had to use it)
Shutter - 1/30 & 1/60 (used 1/60 mostly only when spotlights were the only light on stage)
WB - Tungsten

After filming 4 recitals in two days I was able to account for all the different lighting scenerios. I found myself using 1/30 with more so than 1/60 since it gave me more latitude to handle the dark areas. When I found the iris getting above 6 I switched to 1/60. The iris ring is a godsend.

Just wanted to share my positive experience. The more I use my camera, the more I enjoy using it. Thanks Bill for your suggestions.

Jonathan Schwartz
CA Video Productions

Jonathan:

Great post! I recently did my first recital. I am following your experience to get ahead of the learning curve.

The A-1 is definately tricky in recital lighting even if you are willing to use +12db. My experience with 1/30 is that you can forget pans, but get good static shots.

I hope the next version of the A-1 is just a little more low light sensitive. It would be great then.